The L.A. Times music blog

Florence & the Machine debut 'What the Water Gave Me'

Florence Welch has held true to the promise of a "peek at something very special" for her fans by unveiling the first track lifted from the follow-up to her hit debut, “Lungs.”

The British songstress took to her official website Tuesday to debut "What the Water Gave Me" from the currently untitled disc. Produced by Paul Epworth and recorded at London's Abbey Road studios, the disc is set for a Nov. 7 release in the U.K., with a Stateside release to follow in the same month.

"What the Water Gave Me" has Welch sticking to what made “Lungs” and singles such as “Dog Days Are Over” and "Kiss With a Fist" such a hit: soaring gospel-rooted harmonies and tribal chants on top of ethereal harp strings and intense lyrics.

"Lungs" debuted at No. 2 on the U.K. album charts and was the biggest-selling release for a new artist in 2009. After it was quietly released in the States in October 2009, her plum debut on American television, at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, yielded a massive sales surge -- shooting the disc from No. 44 to No. 14 on the U.S. Billboard 200 charts. The disc has sold 738,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.